Spring

Phoebe's new towel for her hair from Grammy

Biking the Greenway to dinner.  We rode 12 miles
round trip to eat Pizza in Uptown.  Only a
few blocks of the ride were off trail in our neighborhood.
First big ride for the year as a family.  Phoebe was wiped,
but did very well.

Kids listening to Star Wars books on CD after
a bath.

Peter was my measuring jig for my post hole depth last week.
I needed to be close to 40", which is his current height. 

This is what the post holes are for--a pole-shed off the garage
that will offer covered bike rack, tool storage, and a small seasonal
greenhouse at the far end.  

Climbing the REI pinnacle.  Phoebe enjoys climbing a lot.
Glad I didn't jettison my gear 11 years ago.

Visiting Maine. We hit maple syrup runs at the
perfect time.  We got to witness and help with
the whole process during the week, including
licking from the pan after the syrup is done
cooking down.

Peter helped . . . a bit.

Jumping on the round bales was a hit again!

Peter and Phoebe got a ride in the tractor
from Ben.

Even if he didn't ride them all, he sat in them all, many times.

Carrie: the first born of 7 goats.  We also were lucky to be
there for all the goats to have their babies while we were
there.  Phoebe got to name the first one.

We drove to Boston early to stay with our friends Ron and Rob
and their twin sons Erez and Ilan.  Phoebe was pretty taken by
their cuteness.  Well, we all were . . .

Parents and family were invited to watch dance rehearsal yesterday.  Peter and I watched some tap before Alisa arrived to watch some ballet.  Enjoy.

To the left is evidence that there was one a window for the
dining room.  See below how I remedied that.

These pictures of the porch are all from March when I gutted the space.  The drop ceiling in the picture was hanging from two 2x4s that would not qualify as joists in any way.

One of the "joists" holding the entire ceiling.

The porch is now the best insulated room in the house.
Alisa's dad helped me for a few days getting most of the space
re-framed.

Smaller Awning Windows allow for better light, privacy,
security (can leave them open when away or sleeping), but most
valuable was the space gained to build storage.

Peter spent most of his summer with trucks.

The Kings Fair happens in our neighborhood every two years.  Far superior to any other Fair in the nation I know of :)

Micaiah was Calvin and Peter happened to be a Tiger so the opportunity to get a Calvin and Hobbes picture was critical.

Phoebe was a "Planet Princess"  Alisa is sweating what she will need to sew for two kids next year!

I never pass up an opportunity to show the
general public what we are capable of
doing on a bike.  I hauled 2 bales of hay
from a park in St Paul about 5 miles home
last week.  Always an adventure.

The best donuts in Mpls--still warm.
I don't know if I've ever had something so wonderful
as a warm pastry like this.   A Baker's Wife.  The
bakery is next to a craft beer bar, and
a bike shop (unfortunately one I don't like).
This street could be all I'd ever need :)

My dad helped me cut these cabinets.  Full sheets
of MDF Fir ply is not a one-person job we found.
After he left, I got the boxes all set and face-framed.

Here is some final trim work.  I still hope to build a cabinet left of the mail slot and below the windows, but first I hope to tackle the dining room window pictured above.  I have some stain mixed to match the old casing in the house, but we'll see.  It'll be a challenge to get it just right.

 In March we went to the North Shore.  Go figure, no one is up there.  Hotels were cheap.  Weather was both springlike and winter-like in a matter of 24hrs.

Last weekend the kids and I travelled down near Northfield to visit a sheep farm where we've had a cheese CSA share in the past.  Phoebe fell in love with the lambs.  Peter wanted to run up and down a hill of composted manure.

My brother flew out to ride the Fulton Gran Fondo.
We rode 103 miles together yesterday.  

And some additional fun we had . . . our college band from 20
years ago played with John filling in on drums. We had many
friends and neighbors present to BBQ and enjoy the music.
Perhaps a link to the video will be added here soon.

 I know I'm way behind on posts but here you go.  I'm dipping back to Halloween here folks. My apologies.  But we've been busy as you can see.  Alisa's had a busy busy fall making Phoebe's costume and followed that with sewing a new skirt and shirt Phoebe wore to her winter piano recital.

I've been brewing a lot with my good friend Mark (and enjoying the outputs), working a lot writing professional development curriculum and mentoring two young and very talented teachers at a local German Immersion Charter School.  I spend a lot of my evenings writing and it's tiring yet very fulfilling and fun.  I'm learning a lot and getting the opportunity to tap a lot of the research I would never otherwise due to time.

My neighbor Rolf and I took our girls (and his older son and another
neighbor boy) climbing over the Christmas/New Year break.  They loved it.
It was fun to dig out my old harness and consider how many years I need
to wait before getting my kids out on real rock!  

Phoebe's life is packed: swim lessons, gymnastics, piano, cross-country skiing lessons, and school.  Peter, well, he just spends his day dumping liquids from pot to pan and unpacking everything but his own toys.  He's awesome, but he's a lot of work.  We have busy days around here to say the least.

First visit from the tooth fairy happened a couple weeks ago!

Last week we visited "Ice Castles" down in Eden Prarie.
Very awesome.  There are a few across the US.  The kids had
a lot of fun for the hour we were there.

We've been trying our hand at some double/imperial
ales lately.  On the right is a Double Black IPA (Cascadian IPA)

My winter office.  It's great having the basement to work, but soon
I will be kicked out by a need to start our garden--the grow lights are
good office lighting for now